Rauners announce $1 million donation for Coliseum work

Bernard Schoenburg Political Writer @bschoenburg

Tuesday

Aug 14, 2018 at 11:51 AMAug 14, 2018 at 3:27 PM

Gov. Bruce Rauner Tuesday got a standing ovation from hundreds of people at the Agriculture Day Breakfast as he announced that he and his wife Diana, through their family foundation, are donating $1 million to help renovate the Coliseum at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

“The state fairgrounds is one of the greatest fairgrounds in the world,” Rauner told the crowd in the Orr Building at the fair. “We need to have this be a place of pride and ownership and celebration. We’ve allowed this to deteriorate over the years.”

Rauner and his wife also donated to the recently-completed renovation of the Governor’s Mansion.

“We want to do the same thing for the fairgrounds that we did for the Governor’s Mansion,” Rauner said. He said restoration would make the building “beautiful and proud again.”

Rauner also said there would be a contest allowing school children from across the state to decide on the name for the Coliseum.

The building — home to horse shows and other events — was closed in 2016 when engineers found it structurally unsafe. John Slayton, chairman of the Illinois Fairgrounds Foundation, said the state Capital Development Board has estimated the full fix to cost $7 million to $7.5 million, but that doesn’t include $2 million to $2.5 million needed for heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems. The state has allocated at least $7 million, he said, and the gift from the Rauners would likely be used for the heating and air conditioning.

The money from the state is included in $30 million allocated by the General Assembly this year for repairs at state fairgrounds in Springfield and Du Quoin.

Slayton said he is “95 percent sure” that the Coliseum will be open by next summer’s fair.

Prior to the governor’s donation, Slayton said, he believes the largest donation to the foundation was $10,000.

“It’s a very generous gift by a governor who cares a great deal about agriculture and the Illinois State Fairgrounds,” said Slayton, adding that he thinks the donation will spur others to give.

“Once we’re off the ground with this, we kind of become a player and people will be made aware of it,” Slayton said. “Half the problem is educating the public that there’s a foundation that they can donate, on a tax exempt basis, to and help fix the fairgrounds and take the burden off the state of Illinois.”

Rauner said he has been talking with other potential donors to the fair foundation.

“We’re talking to many folks and the conversations are going well,” he said.

Asked if the name picked for the Coliseum would be permanent or only last for a set time period, Elizabeth Tomev, spokeswoman for the governor, said “The details of the program will be announced soon.”

Past discussions about naming rights have included the idea that they could be purchased for a period of years. Slayton said in 2017 that preliminary discussions at the time for naming rights for the Coliseum, Grandstand and Exposition Building were in the range of $200,000 to $250,000 a year for five years.

Slayton said Tuesday that there had been discussions with an agriculture association to get to name the building for $1 million for five years, and the offer was sweetened to $1 million for 10 years, but it was passed over.

As for how long the naming rights purchased by the Rauners will last, Slayton said that will be up to the foundation board, which will meet after the State Fair. It would also be up to the board if the name would last forever. He noted the possibility that the name will come from an Illinois school child.

“If they come up with a neat name that sticks, I can see it hanging around for some time,” Slayton said.

When The State Journal-Register reported last month that the foundation had 2017 income just over $32,000 – despite the thought earlier that $2 million to $3 million could be raised annually – state Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, lamented that the governor had not yet made a personal investment.

After Rauner’s announcement Thursday, Butler called it a “great move.”

“He’s committed to Springfield,” Butler said. “I give him a lot of credit for doing this. Do I wish it would have been a little sooner, sure.” But he noted the Mansion project was also ongoing.

“My hope is and my belief is you’re going to see other private dollars hopefully now shake loose,” Butler said. “You’ve got a lot of folks here at the fair today that represent a lot of varied ag companies and varied interests, and I would hope some of these folks would step forward as well to support the fair.”

Rehabilitation needs at the state’s two fairgrounds had been estimated at $185 million.